1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for preventing transfer of odors from a vehicle to a hunter and more particularly to such an apparatus which is useful for any one or all of a seat, a floor mat or a steering wheel.
2. Background Art
Big game animals, such as deer, have a keen sense of sight, hearing and smell. So when hunting for big game, a hunter needs to take into account all of these keen senses for a successful hunt. In particular, any smells that do not naturally occur in the habitat of the big game will immediately be sensed by such animals and will alert them that danger is near. Hunters typically try to hunt downwind of the animals that they are hunting, but it is inevitable that some of the animals will be upwind from the hunter at times. In fact, the oldest and wisest big game animals often intentionally move from place to place into the wind so that they can use their noses to sense danger ahead of them. So for an optimum chance to bag a big game animal, a hunter hunting for these animals need to keep their bodies and clothing clean and free of odors not found in the woods in which the hunter is hunting.
Beside the obvious steps of taking a shower or bath with soaps and shampoos which do not have a perfume or unnatural scent in them, washing their hunting clothing with unscented soap and avoiding contact with items or solutions that will transfer odors to their bodies or clothing, hunters sometimes wear SCENT LOK® clothing, for example, in order to keep odors from transferring outside of their hunting clothing. This SCENT LOK® clothing is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,134,718; 6,009,559; 5,790,987; 5,399,030; and 5,383,236, which are all incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This SCENT LOK® layer can, for example, be an agent being provided in the base layer which is selected from a group consisting of activated charcoal, chlorophyll, baking soda, activated alumina, soda lime, zeolite, calcium oxide, and potassium permanganate.
When in the woods hunters use “scent removal liquids”, usually sprayed onto their clothing or skin in an attempt to eliminate odors.
Hunters also use “cover scents” that smell like things normally occurring in the woods, like acorn, earth or dirt, apple and some animal urines, such as fox urine.
Hunters also us “attracting scents” such as urine from an animal like the one they are hunting, like whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, etc. When the animal being hunted smells these urine smells, they often move towards the direction from which such smells emanate.
Simple economics requires that hunters use their vehicles for many purposes besides hunting, because a typical hunter cannot afford to dedicate one vehicle for hunting only. Every person has different a different situation in their lives that causes odors not common to the woods to be in their vehicles. The odors could come from something related to their occupation. Odors could come from children who come in contact with and bring with them many things that could have an odor. Simply having a vehicle serviced or repaired could introduce an oil or gasoline smell to the seats, floor mat and steering wheel, for example. Use by a spouse or friend that is wearing perfume could create a problem.
So when a hunter gets into his or her vehicle with odor free clothing, clean hands and clean boots, it is a problem for that hunter if odors are transferred from the vehicle seats, floor mat and/or steering wheel to the hunter or the hunter's clothing or boots.